MUMBAI: Known for airing Pakistani series on Indian television, Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited’s (ZEEL) Hindi channel Zindagi is all set to launch a new Turkish drama for Indian audiences. Titled Feriha – a Turkish Tale of Love, the series will go on air starting 15 September, every Monday to Friday at 7pm.
Based in Istanbul, Feriha – a Turkish Tale of Love, is a story of a young, beautiful and ambitious girl born in a family of humble means. The girl-next-door named Feriha aspires to touch the sky and has a burning desire to succeed in a world that her parents consider as alien. Born to a janitor father and housekeeper mother, Feriha earns a fully paid scholarship in an elite University where the city's affluent parents send their children. In the struggle for acceptance among her rich peers, she portrays herself as one of them and lies about her background.
Speaking about the launch of the new Turkish show, Zindagi & FTA Cluster business head Priyanka Datta said, “After Pakistani series, we are introducing our first Turkish show Feriha. The culture they have is closely connected to India and we can easily relate to them. With this Turkish show we are targeting the younger audiences aged between 15 – 30 years. If you see our other shows which are from Pakistan, it attracts people in the age group of 35- 45, but Feriha is entirely a college romance and so it will be more relatable with the younger audiences.”
With dating app Woo as the title sponsor, the show will have 20 – 40 episodes.
While FCB Ulka will handle the creative innovations, the mandate of media agency has been given to MEC.
Talking about the marketing activities, Datta informed, “Apart from television we are also looking at other platforms. We will aggressively promote the show through our network along with other youth and music channels. We will also use radio as a medium to generate awareness. We are running a contest for the audiences and the winner will get a chance to travel all the way to Turkey.”
The show effortlessly blends in with the channels’ brand philosophy Jodey Dilon Ko as it encapsulates the essence of different relationships.
The channel reached one year landmark recently and commenting on the journey so far Dutta said, “The journey started with Pakistani shows and then eventually we introduced Indian original series Shukriya. Now we are getting into Turkish content. We have received phenomenal response and appreciation. The journey so far has been very good for us. We will keep enhancing our portfolio.”
Talking about the response that Zindagi has received from the advertisers, Datta asserted, “Initially we started with 11-12 clients, within a month we reached to 24 -25 clients and we ended the year with 140- 150 clients on board.”
